My Marvelous Year – The 1960s

Marvel comics in the 1960s! See who the Comic Book Herald reading club voted for hero, villain, and comic issue of the year throughout the 1960’s below. Check out my 1960’s series power rankings, or click any year to see more about the winners, and to find all the comics we read for each individual year.

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So since there doesn’t seem to be a place to further expound on the Vote Of The Decades [1960] (doesn’t that sound better in caps?), here’s my thoughts:

Series: Uh oh. A write-in category. Good luck! My votes:

Fantastic Four – Not for nothing were they called “The World’s Greatest Comic”!
Amazing Spider-Man – First (that I know of) of its kind. A superhero with superhangups.
The Incredible Hulk – Mainly for the original six-issue series. Yeah, nostalgia, but also the second series from the new 5…I mean, Marvel! It ain’t easy being green! Especially when you start out grey.

Hero(es):

Spider-Man – For reasons mentioned above. Also for Romita. I’ll admit Ditko is classic but he wasn’t one of my favorites.
Silver Surfer – He was so noble. Noble I tells ya! And nobody since has told him the way Stan did. Not even Stan.
Iron Man – A different kind of hero. No super powers per se. And no, I won’t argue Batman. Nor Doc Savage, although I don’t think I discovered him until the 70’s or 80’s.

Villain(s): Although it almost seems like I should give my reasons for NOT voting for some of these…

Magneto – A victim of prejudice, he reacted evilly. And pretty much fully formed right outta da box.
Doctor Octopus – Also pretty much fully formed. A warped mind fused with a warped body (see what I did there?).
Green Goblin – So many delicious twists. And in a book already filled with them. Why do I feel like I’m reviewing donuts?

To me, many of the villains listed didn’t seem like they hit their peaks yet like Doc Doom or the Mandarin. If Mandy hadn’t been pointed in a different direction (sorry) he might not have made the list. I don’t think of Galactus as a villain; neither does he. He’s just…Galactus. And the Red Skull…it just seems like everybody eventually survived from Cap’s days and not everybody was the better for it.

Good picks! I had a very small heart palpitation when I didn’t see Doctor Doom on your villains list, but I’ll get over it. You’re really not going to like my Marvel 1960s series power rankings based on that Hulk pick, though…

Also, the write-ins are coming in surprisingly neatly and legible! Pretty excited for the final tally.

Eh, I’m sure I can live with it. That original Hulk series – hey, it WAS pretty different, and how many characters can say that they predated Spidey – obviously wasn’t that popular. Don’t remember if it was monthly or bimonthly, but it only lasted from six months to a year.

I was reading through some of this weeks issues last night and reflecting on what was going on (and looking forward to things I know are coming) and wonder if it would be worthwhile to add in categories for best penciler or writer?
I wonder if we might be moving beyond simply looking at the hero of the year and more into an era where the talent outshines the character…
I mean, throughout the first few years it was basically the Stan, Jack and Steve show…but as the years progress we will be seeing more and more important artists and writers (like Romita and Thomas in ’66 and Steranko in ’67) who will have a major impact on both the Marvel universe and comics as a whole .
Soon we will see the likes of Gil Kane, Neil Adams, Denny O’neil, Marv Wolfman, and Barry Windsor-Smth.
Thoughts?

Yeah, I don’t see much point in voting for early sixties stuff…I think we can call it a tie for best penciler. But I think that these more recent years (’66-67) have some new contenders. I am absolutely seeing Romita Sr. in a new light. I’ve read the first 100 issues of ASM at least a couple of times, with specific issues in the area of a dozen reads, and maybe it is due to approaching it with a mature eye, but I am really impressed by Romita.

Side note: I don’t know how it displays for you, but due to time zone differences it appears that you answered my post about an hour before I posted.

Hello everyone, Im kind of new in this all comic universe, and I found this amazing page, but i think is a little to much to read all of that for a beginner like me. So, i will try my best to follow the Marvellous Year Reading Club, but I will also like some tips on what to read first and not get lost in the stories and in this universe that seem amazing. Thank you very much to all of you in advance.